Object interactions

ABSTRACT

One embodiment provides a method, including: receiving, at an input device of an information handling device, a selection to access interaction data associated with a target, wherein the interaction data corresponds to interactions between the target and at least one entity; receiving, at the information handling device, a designation of an interaction parameter, wherein the designation of the interaction parameter adjusts a defining standard for a direct interaction and an indirect interaction for the interaction data; determining, using a processor and based on the interaction parameter, whether each of the interactions from the interaction data is associated with a direct interaction or an indirect interaction; and performing, based on the determining, at least one action. Other aspects are described and claimed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/854,450, filed on Dec. 26, 2017 and entitled “OBJECTINTERACTIONS”, wherein the contents of which are incorporated byreference herein.

BACKGROUND

Situations often arise in which the prior movements and activities ofindividuals need to be retraced and/or examined. For example, followinga disease outbreak in a predetermined area (e.g., a hospital, etc.), adisease outbreak reconstructionist may desire to know the originalpatient or individual that carried the disease into the predeterminedarea, who and/or what the original patient directly interacted with, whoand/or what the original patient indirectly interacted with, and thelike. Information obtained from this research may help identify otherindividuals that may be potentially infected and/or that need to betested for infection.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In summary, one aspect provides a method comprising: receiving, at aninput device of an information handling device, a selection to accessinteraction data associated with a target, wherein the interaction datacorresponds to interactions between the target and at least one entity;receiving, at the information handling device, a designation of aninteraction parameter, wherein the designation of the interactionparameter adjusts a defining standard for a direct interaction and anindirect interaction for the interaction data; determining, using aprocessor and based on the interaction parameter, whether each of theinteractions from the interaction data is associated with a directinteraction or an indirect interaction; and performing, based on thedetermining, at least one action.

Another aspect provides an information handling device, comprising: aprocessor; a memory device that stores instructions executable by theprocessor to: receive a selection to access interaction data associatedwith a target, wherein the interaction data corresponds to interactionsbetween the target and at least entity; receive a designation of aninteraction parameter, wherein the designation of the interactionparameter adjusts a defining standard for a direct interaction and anindirect interaction for the interaction data; determine, based on theinteraction parameter, whether each of the interactions from theinteraction data is associated with a direct interaction or an indirectinteraction; and perform, based on the determination, at least oneaction.

A further aspect provides a product, comprising: a storage device thatstores code, the code being executable by a processor and comprising:code that receives a selection to access interaction data associatedwith a target, wherein the interaction data corresponds to interactionsbetween the target and at least one entity; code that receives adesignation of an interaction parameter, wherein the designation of theinteraction parameter adjusts a defining standard for a directinteraction and an indirect interaction for the interaction data; codethat determines, based on the interaction parameter, whether each of theinteractions from the interaction data is associated with a directinteraction or an indirect interaction; and code that performs, based onthe determining, at least one action.

The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications,generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is notintended to be in any way limiting.

For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other andfurther features and advantages thereof, reference is made to thefollowing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example method of performing an action based upontarget interaction data.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example target selection table according to anembodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example graphical illustration of an interactionvisualization according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example graphical interface of an interactionvisualization according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of device circuitry/system architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments, asgenerally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations inaddition to the described example embodiments. Thus, the following moredetailed description of the example embodiments, as represented in thefigures, is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments, asclaimed, but is merely representative of example embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment” or the like in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided to give athorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant artwill recognize, however, that the various embodiments can be practicedwithout one or more of the specific details, or with other methods,components, materials, et cetera. In other instances, well knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obfuscation.

Reconstructing the prior movements and interactions of an individual, ora group of individuals, may be a daunting task. In some situations,records exist that describe the location a target individual was orshould have been. For example, for a patient staying in a hospital,records exist that may identify which room the patient stayed in, whichbed in the room the patient was assigned to, how long the patientremained in that room, and the like. Additionally, recorded informationmay also exist that describes who the target individual may haveinteracted with. For example, for a patient staying in a hospital,visitation records exist that describe who visited the patient duringtheir stay, administrative records exist that describe whichcaregiver(s) (e.g., doctors, nurses, technicians, etc.) were assigned tothe patient, and the like. Additionally, other types of recordedinformation may be accessed and examined such as video data recorded byvideo cameras that may provide a visual indication as to what otherobjects and/or people the target individual, or individuals havingcontacted the target individual, interacted with.

However, the aforementioned conventional records may not provide acomplete picture regarding all of the interactions of a targetindividual. For example, individuals may enter a patient's room withouthaving provided an official documentation of their visit or withoutbeing listed as an assigned caregiver. Additionally, these records donot record specific objects that came into contact with an individual,for example, which medical cart was used, which specific operatingimplement was used, or the like. Additionally, although a patient may bedirected to stay in a designated area, the patient may disobey the orderand wander outside the designated area. Furthermore, in the case ofvideo cameras, certain cameras may not be always on and recording (e.g.,a camera may malfunction, etc.), certain cameras may not provide anideal view of a potential interaction (e.g., the camera is placed at abad angle with respect to the potential interaction, etc.), or, in somesituations, cameras may not be permitted to record in certain roomsand/or areas at all. The shortcomings of the conventional methods makeit very difficult to create an accurate interaction visualization of atarget's interactions with other individuals and/or objects.Additionally, the aforementioned conventional methods are timeconsuming, resource intensive, and expensive.

Accordingly, an embodiment provides a method for generating aninteraction visualization that provides a user with a visualization of atarget individual's interactions with other individuals and/or otherobjects. In an embodiment, an embodiment may receive a selection todisplay interaction data associated with a target. The interaction datamay correspond to interactions between the target and at least one otherindividual or object and may be obtained using one or a multitude oftracking methodologies (e.g., Real Time Location System tracking, nearfield communications between objects, etc.). An embodiment may thendetermine whether each of the interactions is associated with a directinteraction or an indirect interaction. The rulesets that govern whatconstitutes a direct interaction and an indirect interaction may varybased upon a selected interaction parameter.

An embodiment may then use the interaction data designations to performat least one action. For instance, an embodiment may generate, based onthis determination, an interaction visualization for the interactions ofthe target. For example, the interaction visualization may correspond toa node-and-edge graph in which the target's interactions are visuallydistinguished from the interactions occurring between all otherindividuals and/or objects in the graph. Additionally, the target'sdirect interactions may be visually distinguished from a target'sindirect interactions. Such a method may be able to quickly provide anexamining user with a comprehensive visualization of all theinteractions, and interaction types, associated with a targetindividual. Additionally, such a method may also be used to analyze theimpact of care and patient outcomes (both positive and negative) byproviding insights to care team interactions, durations, equipment used,etc. Such data could enhance machine learning techniques to helphealthcare providers deliver more efficacious patient care and changecare protocols. Additionally or in lieu of providing the interactionvisualization, an embodiment may provide an alert to one or moreindividuals informing them of a direct interaction determination.

The illustrated example embodiments will be best understood by referenceto the figures. The following description is intended only by way ofexample, and simply illustrates certain example embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an embodiment may generate an interactionvisualization outlining the direct and indirect interactions between aselected target and other objects and individuals. At 101, an embodimentmay receive a selection to access and/or display interaction dataassociated with a target. In an embodiment, interaction data may referto data that tracks characteristics associated with any detectedinteraction. In an embodiment, a detected interaction may be either adirect interaction or an indirect interaction. In the context of thisapplication, a direct interaction may be any instance in which anindividual or object made contact with another individual or object(e.g., an individual touched another individual, an individual laid in aparticular bed, etc.) or any instance in which an individual or objectdid not make contact with another individual or object but was within apredetermined distance to another individual or object (e.g., twoindividuals not touching but being in the same together, an individualnot touching but being in the same room as an object, etc.). In thecontext of this application, an indirect interaction may be any instancein which an individual or object has a direct interaction with anotherindividual or object that thereafter has a direct interaction with yetanother individual or object. For example, an individual may shake handswith another individual who thereafter shakes hands with yet anotherindividual. As another example, an individual may have sat in a chairthat another individual later also sits in.

In an embodiment, the interaction data may track at least one of: theproximity of an interaction (e.g., the distance between an individual orobject and another individual or object during an interaction, etc.),the length of an interaction (e.g., the duration an individual or objecthad an interaction with another individual or object, etc.), and thelocation of an interaction (e.g., which room of a hospital aninteraction took place, etc.). In an embodiment, interaction data may becontinuously gathered and/or received using one or more individualand/or object tracking techniques. For example, Real Time LocationSystem (RTLS) technology may be implemented in a predetermined space(e.g., a hospital, emergency care facility, etc.) to track the locationof individuals and objects to varying degrees of granularity. RTLS tagsmay be attached to individuals (e.g., patients, visitors, doctors, carestaff, etc.) or objects (e.g., beds, chairs, etc.) to identify andrecord their positions as they move about the predetermined space.Through this method of tracking, it can be determined which other RTLStagged individuals or objects a targeted individual or object had aninteraction with, where the interaction occurred, and for how long theinteraction occurred before. The tags may include radio frequencyidentification (RFID), near field, or other communication/sensingcapabilities that allow the tags to communicate with each other.Alternatively, the tags may transmit location data to a system and thesystem may correlate the locations of objects having tags. In otherwords, the system determines if the tagged objects were in proximity toeach other, rather than the tags communicating to each other.

In an embodiment, a target may be selected from a list of targets. As anon-limiting example, referring to FIG. 2, a user may be presented witha selection table 21 that may contain a listing of potential targets(e.g., objects or individuals, etc.) for selection (e.g., Andy, Dr.King, Francis, etc.). Upon selection of a target 22 (e.g., Patient X),the selected target 22 in the table may be visually distinguished fromthe unselected targets 23 (e.g., by changing a color of the selectedtarget's box, etc.). In an embodiment, the selection of a target 22 maybe made by a user providing input (e.g., touch input, stylus input,mouse input, keyboard input, verbal, image etc.) to an input device(e.g., a display screen, a hard or soft keyboard, a mouse, microphone,camera etc.) operatively coupled to the device. For example, a user mayprovide touch selection input to a display screen by tapping a name of apotential target in the table 21. Responsive to receiving a selection ofa target 22, an embodiment may access interaction data (e.g., storedlocally or remotely in an accessible storage database, etc.) associatedwith the target 22 (i.e., any detected interactions the target had withother individuals or objects).

Responsive to receiving a selection of a target, at 101, an embodimentmay determine, at 102, whether each of the detected interactions isassociated with a direct interaction or an indirect interaction. In anembodiment, the determination may be made, for example, by analyzing thetracking data. Using the aforementioned RTLS tracking methodology, asystem may be able to track the positions and duration of time spent ineach location for all tagged individuals and objects. Based upon thistracking information, an embodiment may identify which of the twocategories a detected interaction falls into. For example, if thetracking data shows that an individual was in the same room as a targetindividual for a predetermined length of time (e.g., 2 milliseconds, 10seconds, 5 minutes, etc.), an embodiment may classify this as a directinteraction. An embodiment may further classify any other individualthat the individual came into proximate contact with as having anindirect interaction with the target individual. The length of time usedto determine an interaction may be user configurable and can be anylength of time.

In an embodiment, as part of the determination of which type ofinteraction a detected interaction is associated with, a user may selectan interaction parameter in conjunction with selecting an interactiontarget. Such a selection may provide the user with information that ismore tailored to their specific research interest. The interactionparameter may be a parameter that is accompanied by a predeterminedruleset that governs which interactions are direct, indirect, or notinteractions at all based on the parameter. The predetermined rulesetmay be set by a manufacturer/programmer or may be modified and/orcreated by a user. In an embodiment, an interaction parameter may be aspecific illness or disease, duration of interaction, proximity ofinteraction, a location of interaction, and the like. In an embodiment,a combination of interaction parameters may be chosen and used.

In an example use-case of utilizing an interaction parameter, a user mayselect a specific disease as their interaction parameter, such asTuberculosis, from a list (e.g., a drop-down list, etc.) containing avariety of different types of diseases/infections. The implication withthis selection may be that the selected target is infected withTuberculosis and a user may want to see the other individuals whom thetarget interacted with so that those other individuals may be notifiedand/or tested for Tuberculosis. As Tuberculosis is known to be highlycontagious (i.e., through airborne transmission), the ruleset associatedwith the Tuberculosis interaction parameter may be more apt to classifythe target's interactions as direct interactions than a disease that canonly be transmitted through physical contact. For instance, using theTuberculosis interaction parameter, another individual determined tohave been in the same room as the target individual, but not touchingthe target individual, may still be classified as having a directinteraction with the target individual. If the user had selected adisease that is only capable of transmission through direct touchingcontact as the interaction parameter, then the same situation may havenot resulted in an interaction classification at all because the targetindividual and the other individual never touched one another. In otherwords, the determination of a direct interaction, indirect interaction,or non-interaction may be based upon an interaction parameter.

The predetermined rulesets that govern which interactions are direct,indirect, or non-interactions may vary between interaction parameters.For example, different than the ruleset governing the Tuberculosisinteraction parameter, in a duration interaction parameter, a directinteraction may correspond to a target that has interacted with anindividual or object for a predetermined length of time or during aparticular critical moment within a patient's stay/timeline; an indirectinteraction may correspond to a target that has interacted with theindividual or object for the predetermined length of time thatthereafter interacts with another individual or object; and anon-interaction may correspond to a target that has not interacted withthe individual or object for the predetermined length of time.

Responsive to determining that there are no interactions associated withthe target, an embodiment may, at 103, take no further action.Additionally or alternatively, an embodiment may provide a visual oraudible output notification to a user that no interactions have beendetected (e.g., a message provided on a display screen, an audiblemessage communicated using a speaker, etc.). Responsive to determining atype of interaction for each of the detected interactions, an embodimentmay perform, at 104, at least one action.

In an embodiment, performance of the at least one action may correspondto provision of an interactive visualization. The interactionvisualization may provide a user with a visualization of theinteractions between all individuals for which there is interaction datafor. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the interaction visualizationmay provide a user with a visualization of the interactions for a subsetof individuals (e.g., that are specified by a user, etc.). Throughoutthe remainder of this application, the form of the interactionvisualization described and illustrated is of the form of anedge-and-node graph. However, such a form for the interactionvisualization is not intended to be limiting and persons having ordinaryskill in the art will recognize that the interaction visualization maytake other forms, for example, data tables, acyclic graphs, and thelike.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an example illustration of an edge-and-nodegraph 34 for a selected target 32 is illustrated. In an embodiment, eachnode of the graph may correspond to an individual or object and eachedge of the graph may correspond to an interaction between thatindividual or object and another individual or object. For example, itcan be seen from the graph 34 that Patient X has had interactions withMike, Carol, Lisa, Dr. King, John, Chris, Andy, Francis, Elle, and Dr.Bill because there is an edge between Patient X and each of theaforementioned individuals. It can also be seen that there is nointeraction between Patient X and Joe, Mary, and Cynthia because thereis no edge between these individuals and Patient X.

In an embodiment, the interactions for a selected target 32 may bevisually distinguished from the interactions between unselected targets.For example, in FIG. 3, Patient X is the selected target 32 in the graph34 and each of Patient X's interactions may be visually distinguishedfrom interactions in which Patient X was not involved (e.g., by grayingout all interactions Patient X was not involved in, by removing allinteractions Patient X was not involved in, by highlighting or changingthe color of Patient X's interactions from the other interactions,etc.). In an embodiment, the direct interactions of a selected target 32may be visually distinguished from the indirect interactions of aselected target. For example, the direct interactions in the graph 34may be represented by solid lines and the indirect interactions in thegraph 34 may be represented by broken, or dashed, lines. In this case,Patient X may have had direct interactions with Dr. King, John, and Elleand had indirect interactions with Mike, Carol, Lisa, Chris, Andy, andFrancis.

The graph may also include other distinguishing features. For example,and not shown in FIG. 3, the edges may be thicker for a higher number ofinteractions, a longer length of interactions, or the like. As anexample, if the length of the interaction between Patient X and Elle was2 hours and the length of interaction between Patient X and John was 30minutes, the edge between Patient X and Elle may be thicker than theedge between Patient X and John. As another example, if the number ofinteractions between Patient X and Dr. King was 5 and the number ofinteractions between Patient X and John was 15, the edge between PatientX and John may be thicker than the edge between Patient X and Dr. King.Combinations of these factors may also change the thickness of the line.For example, if the number of interactions between Patient X and Dr.King was 5 having a total duration of 3 hours, and the number ofinteractions between Patient X and Elle was 15 having a total durationof 30 minutes, the edge between Patient X and Dr. King may be thickerthan the edge between Patient X and Elle. Other factors may beconsidered and other distinguishing features may be used. For example,the graph may be color coded, have different shades for differentvolumes of interactions, and the like.

In an embodiment, a user may attain additional interaction dataregarding a specific interaction by selecting, or hovering over, adesired edge or individual. For example, if a user wanted to knowspecific interaction data regarding the direct interaction betweenPatient X and Dr. King, a user may select the edge connecting the twoindividuals (e.g., using touch input, mouse input, etc.). Responsive tothis selection, a separate table (not pictured) may appear that mayprovide information indicating that Patient X and Dr. King made directcontact at a specific time (e.g., 2:30 pm on Oct. 1, 2015, etc.) in aspecific place (e.g., Patient X's hospital room, etc.) and the length ofthat direct contact (e.g., 2 minutes, etc.).

In an embodiment, additional information regarding the interactionsbetween a selected target and other individuals and/or objects may beco-displayed along with the edge-and-node graph. Referring now to FIG.4, an example illustration of a user interface is provided in which theedge-and-node graph 44 is co-displayed along with the selection table41, a user-adjustable time range 45 for interaction data presentation(i.e., a specific time range in which a user wishes to see interactionsthat occurred in that time range), and a percentage table 46 indicatingthe percentage of direct and indirect contacts the target had with otherindividuals and/or objects. Some or all of this additional informationmay be present in the interface. A user may choose to remove a datatable by collapsing or removing an information box.

In an embodiment, responsive to receiving selection input for anothertarget, the graph may dynamically update to reflect the interaction datafor the newly selected target. For example, if a user were to selectFrancis as the new target, then the edges of the graph may dynamicallyupdate to visually distinguish all of Francis' interactions. Theselection input may be received at the original selection table, forexample, as shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the selection input may bereceived at the graph, for example, if a user wanted to see theinteractions of Dr. King after interacting with Patient X, the user canselect Dr. King from the graph of FIG. 3. In this scenario, the systemmay automatically apply parameters that distinguish the time frame ofinteractions for Dr. King. In other words, if the user selects Dr. Kingfrom the graph of FIG. 3, the system may apply a filter that only showsthe interactions of Dr. King after coming into contact with Patient X.

In an embodiment, the performance of the at least one action maycorrespond to provision of an alert to an individual determined to havea direct interaction with a target. In an embodiment, the alert may beissued dynamically and without any additional user input. In thisregard, if an embodiment has access to contact information associatedwith the relevant individual, an embodiment may automatically send thealert to the individual via one or more contact mediums a system hascontact information for (e.g., via voice alert, email, text, etc.). Inan embodiment, the alert may contain a notification that informs theindividual that they may have had a direct interaction with a particulartarget. Additionally or alternatively, the alert may contain suggestionsfor the individual to take to minimize other direct interactions fromoccurring between the individual and other individuals or objects. In anembodiment, the alert may also be provided to at least one other entityin addition to, or in lieu of, the individual. For example, anembodiment may provide an indication of the direct interaction betweenthe target and the individual to a healthcare worker, an administrativeagency, another authority, etc.

In an embodiment, the performance of the at least one action maycorrespond to provision of an alert to a responsible authority about anobject determined to have a direct interaction with a target. In anembodiment, the responsible authority may be one or more of: ahealthcare worker, law enforcement personnel, an administrativesupervisor, another type of responsible authority, etc. As described inthe previous paragraph, the alert may inform the responsible authoritythat a particular object is suspected of having had a direct interactionwith a particular target. Additionally or alternatively, the alert maycomprise a suggestion to remove the object, clean the object, informother users to not interact with the object, etc.

The various embodiments described herein thus represent a technicalimprovement to current interaction tracking techniques. The systems andmethods as described herein enable interactions between individualsand/or objects in a predetermined space to be tracked and thereaftervisually displayed to a user in an interaction visualization. Theinteraction visualization may allow a user to quickly identify directand indirect interactions between a targeted individual or object andanother individuals or objects. Such techniques, for example, may enableusers to identify origination points for a particular disease or virusand/or identify points of potential disease transmission to otherindividuals. Such techniques may also allow individuals to identifywhich individuals or objects may be in need of medical attention orsterilization. Additionally to the foregoing, the system and methods asdescribed herein enable certain dynamic actions to be taken forindividual or objects determined to have direct or indirect interactionswith a target.

While various other circuits, circuitry or components may be utilized ininformation handling devices, with a computer, server, client device orthe like, an example device that may be used in implementing one or moreembodiments includes a computing device in the form of a computer 500.This example device may be a server used in one of the systems in ahospital network, or one of the remote computers connected to thehospital network. Components of computer 500 may include, but are notlimited to, a processing unit 520, a system memory 530, and a system bus522 that couples various system components including the system memory530 to the processing unit 520. Computer 500 may include or have accessto a variety of computer readable media, including databases. The systemmemory 530 may include non-signal computer readable storage media, forexample in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as readonly memory (ROM) and/or random access memory (RAM). By way of example,and not limitation, system memory 530 may also include an operatingsystem, application programs, other program modules, and program data.

A user can interface with (for example, enter commands and information)the computer 500 through input devices 550. A monitor or other type ofdevice can also be connected to the system bus 522 via an interface,such as an output interface 560. The computer may include a database540, e.g., if it is part of the warehouse layer in FIG. 1. In additionto a monitor, computers may also include other peripheral outputdevices. The computer 500 may operate in a networked or distributedenvironment using logical connections to one or more other remotedevice(s) 580 such as other computers. The logical connections mayinclude network interface(s) 570 to a network, such as a local areanetwork (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and/or a global computernetwork, but may also include other networks/buses.

Information handling device circuitry, as for example outlined in FIG.5, may be used in client devices such as a personal desktop computer, alaptop computer, or smaller devices such as a tablet or a smart phone.In the latter cases, i.e., for a tablet computer and a smart phone, thecircuitry outlined in FIG. 5 may be adapted to a system on chip typecircuitry. The device, irrespective of the circuitry provided, mayprovide and receive data to/from another device, e.g., a server orsystem that coordinates with various other systems. As will beappreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art, other circuitry oradditional circuitry from that outlined in the example of FIG. 5 may beemployed in various electronic devices that are used in whole or in partto implement the systems, methods and products of the variousembodiments described herein.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, various aspects may beembodied as a system, method or device program product. Accordingly,aspects may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment or anembodiment including software that may all generally be referred toherein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects maytake the form of a device program product embodied in one or more devicereadable medium(s) having device readable program code embodiedtherewith.

It should be noted that the various functions described herein may beimplemented using instructions stored on a device readable storagemedium such as a non-signal storage device that are executed by aprocessor. A storage device may be, for example, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples of a storage medium would include the following: aportable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-onlymemory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device,or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of thisdocument, a storage device is not a signal and “non-transitory” includesall media except signal media.

Program code embodied on a storage medium may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, et cetera, or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

Program code for carrying out operations may be written in anycombination of one or more programming languages. The program code mayexecute entirely on a single device, partly on a single device, as astand-alone software package, partly on single device and partly onanother device, or entirely on the other device. In some cases, thedevices may be connected through any type of connection or network,including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), orthe connection may be made through other devices (for example, throughthe Internet using an Internet Service Provider), through wirelessconnections, e.g., near-field communication, or through a hard wireconnection, such as over a USB connection.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to the figures,which illustrate example methods, devices and program products accordingto various example embodiments. It will be understood that the actionsand functionality may be implemented at least in part by programinstructions. These program instructions may be provided to a processorof a device, a special purpose information handling device, or otherprogrammable data processing device to produce a machine, such that theinstructions, which execute via a processor of the device implement thefunctions/acts specified.

It is worth noting that while specific blocks are used in the figures,and a particular ordering of blocks has been illustrated, these arenon-limiting examples. In certain contexts, two or more blocks may becombined, a block may be split into two or more blocks, or certainblocks may be re-ordered or re-organized as appropriate, as the explicitillustrated examples are used only for descriptive purposes and are notto be construed as limiting.

As used herein, the singular “a” and “an” may be construed as includingthe plural “one or more” unless clearly indicated otherwise.

This disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription but is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art. The example embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain principles and practical application, and to enable others ofordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for variousembodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particularuse contemplated.

Thus, although illustrative example embodiments have been describedherein with reference to the accompanying figures, it is to beunderstood that this description is not limiting and that various otherchanges and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in theart without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at an inputdevice of an information handling device, a selection to accessinteraction data associated with a target, wherein the interaction datacorresponds to interactions between the target and at least one entity;receiving, at the information handling device, a designation of aninteraction parameter, wherein the designation of the interactionparameter adjusts a defining standard for a direct interaction and anindirect interaction for the interaction data; determining, using aprocessor and based on the interaction parameter, whether each of theinteractions from the interaction data is associated with a directinteraction or an indirect interaction; and performing, based on thedetermining, at least one action.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theat least one entity is associated with an individual and wherein thedetermining comprises determining that the interaction data for theindividual is associated with the direct interaction.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the performing the at least one action comprisesproviding an alert to at least the individual.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the alert comprises a notification informing the individualabout the direct interaction with the target.
 5. The method of claim 3,wherein the providing the alert to at least the individual comprisesproviding the alert to at least one other entity.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the at least one entity is associated with an object andwherein the determining comprises determining that the interaction datafor the object is associated with the direct interaction.
 7. The methodof claim 6, wherein the performing the at least one action comprisesproviding an alert to a responsible authority.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the alert comprises a notification informing the responsibleauthority about the direct interaction with the target.
 9. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the alert comprises a suggestion to remove or clean theobject.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the responsible authority isat least one: a healthcare worker or law enforcement personnel.
 11. Aninformation handling device, comprising: a processor; a memory devicethat stores instructions executable by the processor to: receive aselection to access interaction data associated with a target, whereinthe interaction data corresponds to interactions between the target andat least entity; receive a designation of an interaction parameter,wherein the designation of the interaction parameter adjusts a definingstandard for a direct interaction and an indirect interaction for theinteraction data; determine, based on the interaction parameter, whethereach of the interactions from the interaction data is associated with adirect interaction or an indirect interaction; and perform, based on thedetermination, at least one action.
 12. The information handling deviceof claim 11, wherein the at least one entity is associated with anindividual and wherein the instructions executable by the processor todetermine comprise instructions executable by the processor to determinethat the interaction data for the individual is associated with thedirect interaction.
 13. The information handling device of claim 12,wherein the instructions executable by the processor to perform the atleast one action comprise instructions executable by the processor toprovide an alert to at least the individual.
 14. The informationhandling device of claim 13, wherein the alert comprises a notificationinforming the individual about the direct interaction with the target.15. The information handling device of claim 13, wherein theinstructions executable by the processor to provide the alert compriseinstructions executable by the processor to provide the alert to atleast one other entity.
 16. The information handling device of claim 11,wherein the at least one entity is associated with an object and whereinthe instructions executable by the processor to determine compriseinstructions executable by the processor to determine that theinteraction data for the object is associated with the directinteraction.
 17. The information handling device of claim 16, whereinthe instructions executable by the processor to perform the at least oneaction comprise instructions executable by the processor to provide analert to a responsible authority.
 18. The information handling device ofclaim 17, wherein the alert comprises a notification informing theresponsible authority about the direct interaction with the target. 19.The information handling device of claim 17, wherein the alert comprisesa suggestion to remove or clean the object.
 20. A product, comprising: astorage device that stores code, the code being executable by aprocessor and comprising: code that receives a selection to accessinteraction data associated with a target, wherein the interaction datacorresponds to interactions between the target and at least one entity;code that receives a designation of an interaction parameter, whereinthe designation of the interaction parameter adjusts a defining standardfor a direct interaction and an indirect interaction for the interactiondata; code that determines, based on the interaction parameter, whethereach of the interactions from the interaction data is associated with adirect interaction or an indirect interaction; and code that performs,based on the determining, at least one action.